Ngozi Okonjo Iweala Ready to Become First Black President of World Bank

I’m Ready To Become The First Black President Of World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala Declares

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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance and coordinating minister for the economy has disclosed that she is ready to lead the World Bank if granted nomination.

Okonjo-Iweala stated this while speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Having contested against Jim Yong Kim, the outgoing president, she said many people have been asking if she would take the job. “I know that, because I contested the last time in 2012, and many people were asking that question. It is a shareholder’s decision and they have to decide how they want it. Someone has to nominate.If the right person were to nominate, and if the circumstances are right and people feel I can do the job, yes,” Okonjo-Iweala said.Okonjo-Iweala was then asked by CNN’s Richard Quest if she has declared her candidacy.“No I have not declared my candidacy, you asked a hypothetical question and I answered it fairly. I’m very happy right now, and I just want you to know that I’m enjoying life for a change for a portfolio of what I like,” she replied.

Okonjo-Iweala spent a 25-year career at the World Bank in Washington DC as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director. As Managing Director, she had oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia.[3] Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008 – 2009 food crises and later during the financial crisis. In 2010, she was Chair of the IDA replenishment, the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low interest credit for the poorest countries in the world. During her time at the World Bank, she was also a member of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Africa which was set up by the Prime Minister Andres Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark  and held meetings between April and October 2008.

Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and also as Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was the first female to hold both positions. During her first term as Minister of Finance under president Obasanjo’s Administration, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club of Creditors that led to the wiping out of US$30 billion of Nigeria’s debt, including the outright cancellation of US$18 billion In 2003 she led efforts to improve Nigeria’s macroeconomic management including the implementation of an oil-price based fiscal rule where revenues accruing above a reference benchmark oil price were saved in a special account, “The Excess Crude Account” which helped to reduce macroeconomic volatility.

She also introduced the practice of publishing each state’s monthly financial allocation from the Federal Government of Nigeria in the newspapers. This action went a long way in increasing transparency in governance. With the support of the World Bank and the IMF to the Federal Government of Nigeria, she helped build an electronic financial management platform-the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS), including the and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), helping to curtail corruption in the process. As at 31 December 2014, the IPPIS platform had eliminated 62,893 ghost workers from the system and saved the Nigerian government about $1.25 billion in the process.

Okonjo-Iweala was also instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s in 2006

Following her first term as Minister of Finance, she returned to the World Bank as a Managing Director in December 2007.